Evansville Board approves Astound internet contract for water and sewer utility, extends Harwood Boosters lease and OKs multiple permits and event closures

The Evansville Board of Public Works approved a $122,400 contract with Astound to provide internet services to the Evansville Water and Sewer Utility and voted to extend a long-standing lease for Harwood Boosters Club ball fields, along with approving several right-of-way permits and temporary street closures for community events.

Board members said the Astound agreement, executed under the city's existing master services agreement with Astound, will keep off-site municipal facilities online and provide virtual private line service from the city’s main hub to roughly 10 utility sites; the city itself operates about 40 locations that receive centralized connectivity. The board recorded the total contract amount as $122,400 and approved the item by voice vote.

The approval matters because the VPLS-style service will route internet from the city's main hub to satellite sites such as police substations and health department locations that do not maintain separate, standalone Internet connections.

IT staff said speeds will vary by site, with some locations receiving 100 megabits per second and others up to 1 gigabit per second depending on utilization and need. Staff also noted the city maintains redundant providers (Spectrum and Astound) on some links so a single cut or outage does not take down all municipal connections.

Separately, the board approved an extension of a lease with Harwood Boosters Club for ball fields managed through Locust Hills Cemetery. Staff described the extension as a renewal of a relationship that has existed “for years, probably 25 years.” The board discussed a small increase from the prior nominal fee (previously $1); transcript audio recorded the new amount as "$3," which staff confirmed reflected an increase from the earlier $1 fee.

The board also approved three right-of-way permit applications (permit numbers noted in the record) with no exceptions, contingent on implementing maintenance-of-traffic procedures consistent with the Indiana Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices.

The board granted requests to use barricades and signage and to temporarily close streets for a series of community events, including a 5K run for a neighborhood festival on Aug. 2, a seasonal farmers market running Wednesdays June 4 through Sept. 17, multiple Haney’s Corner Arts District events (including concerts and a front-porch festival), a church picnic on June 7, and a recurring First Friday series tied to Haney’s Corner. Staff confirmed insurance and paperwork were in order before the approvals.

Motions on the items were moved and seconded on the record and approved by voice vote; the transcript does not record individual roll-call tallies for those motions.

Less-critical agenda items approved by voice vote included routine bills and payrolls; the meeting adjourned at 1:41 p.m.